Prospect raises $200k, needs plenty more

5/30/12 10:35 AM EDT

The good news: The American Prospect, which has sought financial donations to keep it afloat, has met its $200,000 goal.

The other news: It is now asking readers for another $350,000. From publisher Jay Harris, italics his:

Including the $200,000 in online contributions, we’ve now met the first big goal and—amazingly—we’re nearly halfway to the second. Small and medium-sized contributions have inspired a number of large and very large gifts, and we’ve now received cash or pledges for nearly $850,000 of the total $1.2 million needed.

We now need to raise just $350,000 more—and we’ve been given until June 18 to raise it. Three more weeks. If we keep working together, we can do this. Will you help—and help spread the word?

This last $350,000 is critically important for putting the Prospect back on a path toward financial health. Without it, some form of the publication might survive, but staff jobs would be chopped by as much as half, the reporting budget would be slashed, and our ability to market to new print and digital readers (an essential step in the route back to fiscal stability) would be hamstrung. To keep the Prospect going at strength, to build on the legacy of impact and influence, to make certain that this desperate situation never happens again, we need this base of support.

But here's the kicker: "Even if we do make this goal, please know that we’ll be pinching pennies—cutting overhead, getting creative about how to do with less, tightening our belts like so many others have had to do in this have/have-not economy."

The Prospect is in an admirable fight to save its ship, but even with this financial backing, how long can it keep itself afloat? Next thing you know the Prospect fund drive will be a bi-annual event.